Bazaar Goes Digital - Local Commerce. Local Trust.

Date

11th August 2025

Location

ITC Maurya, New Delhi

About the Conclave

India's digital economy is undergoing rapid transformation, with over 800 million internet users and expanding digital access in non-metro areas. While digital commerce offers great potential for inclusive growth, many of India's 13 million retailers, especially small and traditional businesses, remain underserved or unserved.

India’s vast network of sellers like kiranas, wholesalers, and small traders fuels economic growth. Emerging digital models provide increased visibility, access to logistics and finance, and fair competition tools. By sharing digital infrastructure, these models empower sellers with the technology and market access to join digital commerce, promoting inclusion, innovation, and growth.

The Council for International Economic Understanding (CIEU) is convening a national-level dialogue on “The Bazaar Goes Digital – Local Commerce, Local Trust.” This forum will bring together luminaries, policymakers, industry leaders, civil society, technologists, and grassroots retail stakeholders to reflect on how India’s approach to building foundational, interoperable digital infrastructure can democratise access to commerce.

At the heart of this discussion is a powerful vision for the future of digital commerce, one shaped by a shared, open network architecture that enables every seller, regardless of size or location, to participate on their own terms and thrive in the digital economy.

Objectives & Outcomes

This convening seeks to catalyse a collective recognition of the moment India stands in, and to move stakeholders to action. The intended outcomes of the event are:

Highlight the role of technology and industry leaders in last mile digital inclusion: unlock new opportunities for leading technology enterprises to extend their tools, solutions and innovations toward enabling last-mile digital inclusion, in ensuring that even the smallest players have equitable access to participate and thrive in the digital economy.
Creating an Enabling Environment for Inclusive Digital Commerce: The event will underscore the importance of aligning key enablers,strategic public investment, supportive policy frameworks, and active industry participation, to help alternative models of digital commerce succeed. Government action in fostering a conducive environment, combined with industry’s commitment to building and integrating with open, inclusive systems, will be essential to unlocking sustainable and widespread adoption.
A Call to Action for the Ecosystem: The event invites all ecosystem participants,industry bodies, technology providers, logistics and payment partners, and most importantly, sellers,to see this as a shared opportunity to shape the future of digital commerce. By actively engaging with open and inclusive models, stakeholders can help build a more accessible, resilient, and participatory commerce ecosystem,one that works for everyone.